Mary McCarty

Mary McCarty (September 27, 1923 – April 3, 1980) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and comedian born in Winfield, Kansas. After her parents divorced, she relocated to Los Angeles with her mother to live with her great-grandmother, and it was there that her performing career began. She started appearing in musical revues in Los Angeles at the age of five, performing alongside other child actresses including Shirley Temple and Jane Withers. By age ten, she could sing in six languages and had developed considerable skill as a dancer. Her first screen credit came in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and by 1934 she had accumulated approximately 75 film appearances.

McCarty's range as a performer drew early critical attention. A September 11, 1948 review in Billboard described her as capable of singing novelty and torch songs, dancing, and performing comedy sketches with equal facility. That versatility carried across multiple entertainment mediums throughout her career. On radio, she starred in the 1952 comedy series The Redhead and was a regular on the 1949 variety program This Is Broadway. Her television work included regular appearances on Admiral Broadway Revue in 1949 and The Arthur Murray Party in 1950, and she later became widely recognized for portraying nurse Clara "Starch" Willoughby on the series Trapper John, M.D., beginning in 1979. Following her death, the character was written off the show and the role of the experienced older nurse was recast with Madge Sinclair as Nurse Ernestine Shoop.

Her Broadway career spanned from 1938 to 1977, beginning with Sleepy Hollow and continuing through productions including Small Wonder (1948), Miss Liberty (1949), Bless You All (1950), A Rainy Day in Newark (1963), Follies (1971), Irene (1973), Chicago (1975), and Anna Christie (1977). She also appeared in Sondheim: A Musical Tribute. For her work in Anna Christie, McCarty received a 1977 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Earlier in her career, she had received a Theatre World Award in 1949. Beyond Broadway, she replaced Ethel Merman as the star of the national touring company of Gypsy and performed in regional productions including Panama Hattie in St. Louis, Missouri.

Her adult film credits included The French Line (1953), Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978), and All That Jazz (1979). She also performed in nightclubs including the Mocambo in West Hollywood, the Chase Club in St. Louis, and the Flamingo in Las Vegas. Her professional activities extended to choreographing a production of Man of La Mancha in Israel and teaching at the Herbert Berghof Studio.

McCarty never married. According to biographer and historian William J. Mann, she was the life partner of actress Margaret Lindsay. On April 3, 1980, Lindsay discovered McCarty dead on the floor of her West Los Angeles home. She was 56. The cause of death remained undetermined following an autopsy, with toxicology results still pending at the time.